The hood latch on your Chevy S-10 is comprised of two parts. The bottom half is the stationary latch. It is mounted in front of your radiator on the frame. The second half is the spring-loaded lever arm which is mounted on the underside of your hood. If your hood latch stops working these two pieces are fairly easy to repair. Repair time will take from 30 minutes to an hour.
Pull your hood release from the inside cab of your Chevy S-10..
Inspect your hood's control arm lever once you walk around to the front. Try to push the hood control arm lever. If it does not work, the problem is in the spring-loaded latch. Stick a screwdriver through the grill and manually use it to push the lever aside and then open your hood.
Use a socket set to remove the bolts holding the top control arm lever in place. Remove the old control arm latch, set the new one in place and tighten it down. If the top control arm lever works and is not the problem continue to the step.
Examine the bottom latch to see if it is bent. If it is, place the tip of your screwdriver against the latch's bar and try to pound it back into shape with your mallet. If it is bent too badly you will have to install a new bottom latch. To do this, remove the two nuts holding the old latch in place with your socket set. Put the new bottom latch in place, insert the mounting bolts and tighten them down with your socket set.
